For Immediate Release
The worldwide movement to isolate the Apartheid Palestinian Authority
and Hamas regimes gained significant momentum over the last year, as hundreds
of artists and performers visiting Israel continued to avoid performing in territories
ruled by human-rights abusing Palestinian governments whose very existence
violates international law.
Meanwhile, in the years since the murder of Italian journalist Vittorio
Arrigoni at Palestinian hands, many international journalists refuse to work in
Hamas-run Gaza, especially after a series of kidnappings and threats have made
it nearly impossible to report from the Strip objectively.
World governments have also stepped up sanctions activities against the
Iran-backed, fundamentalist Gaza regime in light of Hamas' continued support of
terror and well-documented record of human rights abuses directed at women,
gays and religious minorities.
In recent years, the international watchdog group Human Rights Watch
condemned the government in Gaza for war crimes related to their behavior
during conflicts with Israel. “Palestinian
armed groups made clear in their statements that harming civilians was their
aim,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East Director at Human Rights Watch (HRW). “There is simply no legal
justification for launching rockets at populated areas.”
HRW and other respected human rights organizations also demanded an
investigation into Palestinian Authority's role in the torture and murder of
18-year-old Haitham Amer, one of many human rights violations attributed to the
Palestinian Authority rule.
Meanwhile members of the United Nations Security
Council (UNSC) have strongly condemned Palestinian acts of terrorist incitement
which may ultimately lead to an increase in global sanctions against Apartheid Palestine.
These and other divestment, sanctions and boycott successes too
numerous to list continue to demonstrate the ongoing strength of the DSB
movement!
Consider the mock press release above as a thought
experiment.
Before this experiment begins, notice how this release has
all the hallmarks of a genuine BDS "Year in Review" news story or
hyperventilating blog post.
First, there are the trademark ambiguous accusations (such
as "Apartheid" or "violation of international law")
presented as unquestionably true facts.
Then, you've got specific political motivations (ones shared by the
BDSers) attributed to individuals (performers, journalists) or organizations
(governments) with no evidence demonstrating why we must accept these
motivations over equally plausible alternatives.
Finally, you've got the juxtaposition of events, statements
and quotes meant to give the impression that they are all part of a single coherent
story, even though these components may have nothing to do with one
another.
For instance, I just strung together the Human Rights Watch
and Security Council stories and hitched them to my other two stories (of
performers and journalists allegedly boycotting "Apartheid Palestine")
to give the impression that they were all part of the same narrative, in this
case of the success of my fictitious "DSB
movement." And my use of (outdated)
quotes from Human Rights Watch glosses over the fact that this organization is
far more critical of Israel than of the Palestinians (a background I
purposefully ignored in order to give the impression that HRW condemnations of
the PA and Hamas are far more typical than they actually are).
Oh, and also notice how each of the tricks I use provides
just enough wiggle room to worm out of accusation of manipulativeness if ever
I'm cornered. For instance, the
aforementioned quote from Human Rights Watch is genuine, so why should it be my
fault if you choose to incorrectly interpret it in a way that suits my
purposes?
OK, so given what we know of this type of propaganda tool,
two questions we should ask ourselves include:
(1) If this is so easy to do, why don't Israel's supporter play this
game too? and…
(2) Given that this type of manipulativeness is so blindingly
transparent, why do so many people (including many of us) continue to fall for or
respond to it?